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Friday, October 26, 2012

7 Tips ~ How To Make A Good First Impression

There is a familiar
saying “You only get one chance to make a first impression.”If you are like me, you always make that
attempt to do everything right so the person you are meeting walks away happy
to have met you.Meeting new people is
something we all do often – even those who shy away from social situations.
Whether you’re meeting someone for business, or just in a casual setting, a
good first impression can make a big difference to your continued relationship.
With that in mind, I have a few tips to
help you get off on the right foot.

1) Make Eye Contact: The very first and most important thing is to
make sure you are making eye contact. This helps create the impression of honesty
and also shows that you are paying attention to them.You want the person to feel important.

2) Smile With Feeling:
Smiling at the other person helps create
an atmosphere of warmth and also serves to disarm the tension that can exist
when first meeting a stranger. It will
help you both relax. But make sure that
your smile is given with genuine good feeling – it should go all the way to
your eyes!Shallow smiles are easy to
spot and tend to put others off.Always
be sincere.

3) Offer A Firm
Handshake: When shaking the hand of a
stranger, ensure that you grasp firmly. A limp hand can give the impression that you
aren’t all that interested in the other person. However, you don’t want to go overboard and
deliver a crushing handshake that leaves the other in pain – that would come
across as inconsiderate and over the top.My Mother’s hand was broken when she was in college when some young man
gave her and extra strong handshake.Oops!

4) Ask Questions About
The Other Person: When you’re talking to
someone for the first time, be sure to ask them questions about themselves. Ask about their hobbies, their business
interests, and their family and so on. Everybody
likes to be asked questions and given a chance to speak about themselves. Giving someone else this opportunity will
leave the other person feeling good about the conversation they had with you.

5) Don’t Go On About
Yourself: Some people love to talk about
themselves, but this really isn’t a good way to start a new relationship. It’s okay to talk about yourself, but wait
until you’re asked, or until there’s an appropriate reason – for example, you
find out that you share a common interest with the other person. If all you do is talk about yourself when you
first meet, the other person may get the impression you’re self-obsessed, and
aren’t interested in them or anything else.

Source: Flickr.com akk_rus

6) Use The Other
Person’s Name: It’s a good idea to use
the other person’s name shortly into the conversation. Not only does it show that you remembered it,
but it also helps generate a friendly tone that makes conversation easier.I use this one often since I am horrible at
remembering names!

7) Listen Closely: To really get off on the right foot, it’s
important to listen closely to what the other person is saying and respond. Nothing is more of a turn off than feeling
like you’re being ignored in a conversation.By being attentive to what the other person is saying you show that
you’re interested and that you care – two key foundations for any relationship.

Was this helpful?I realize that by the time we are of a
certain age, this should be no new revelation, but I am of the mind that it
never hurts to share things and remind ourselves of things that should be
second nature to us.

Jeane - Glad you took a minute to comment and check out my blog! I hope to get back to my regular blog schedule before too long. Health issues are interfering and I am not liking that!Hugs, GraceinAZ (Pat)

I always make eye contact and I often touch someone when I speak to them (if I already know them). I always look into the eyes of the person I am shaking hands with. It's important to make that personal connection. Because I think shaking hands can feel very formal.I am an extroverted person so I rarely find it difficult to speak to someone. This is a great post my friend xo